Titans of Investing

Applications are now being accepted for the Titans of Investing cohort (FINC 427/669). Complete applications must include the following listed below. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed.

Pre-requisite/Co-requisite are:

FINC 341 (Mays Business School undergraduates)

FINC 409 (non-business undergraduates)

Non-business undergraduate applicants MUST register for FINC 409, during preregistration for the semester for which they are applying for Titans. The Finance Department opens all available seats for FINC 409 on Howdy. No seats are held back, which means the only way to get a seat is by registering through Howdy. There are no force requests for FINC 409 because every classroom is at physical capacity. Our advice is to monitor Howdy and register if a seat becomes available.

Undergraduates who have not completed FINC 341 or FINC 409, not currently enrolled in the course for Spring 2017, and do not register for the course for Fall 2017, will not be eligible for Titans of Investing.

Application Instructions

Complete applications must include the following:

Applications are due by 11:59 pm EST. This is when the application closes and no exceptions will be given.

Please note there is not a fee for this application and there should be only one required letter of recommendation. We are working with the developers to ensure this. If you encounter any problems, please email ritz@mays.tamu.edu.

You will see that this application is for MS/MRE and PHD applications, you are in the correct place. You will choose U.S. Citizen, even if you are not. Under the “Personal Information” section, at “Degree/Major/Program” using the drop down box, select Titans of Investing. After you select “Save” more options will be available on the left menu as well.

The essays for this application are at the bottom under the Ph.D. essays.

If the application does not include all of the required documentation and the applicant does not meet the prerequisite/corequisite, it is considered incomplete and it will not be processed.

At least one nomination from a Texas A&M faculty member should be submitted through the application system. If the Recommender has trouble with this, they may submit by sending it to titans@mays.tamu.edu, but the first method is preferred.

Nominations from alumni of the Titans class are strongly encouraged, but not required. These should also be submitted through the application system. If the Recommeder has trouble with this, they may submit by sending it to titans@mays.tamu.edu, but the first method is preferred.

All applicants are required to attend the final class and dinner of the semester. The Fall semester dinner is held in December and the Spring semester dinner is held in May.

In order to be eligible for admissions to Titans, you must be a student in good standing at Texas A&M University (main campus). Undergraduate students must have completed or be registered for FINC 341 (Mays Business School students) or FINC 409 (non-business undergraduates). Exceptionally qualified undergraduate students from A&M colleges other than Mays will also be considered for admission.

Strong applicants usually have the following qualities:

A strong academic performance, generally and within the major.

Persuasive evidence of a consistent willingness to excel.

Nomination information
Nominations must come from a Texas A&M faculty member. Most nominations for business students come from Texas A&M Accounting and Finance faculty members. For your convenience, links to contact information for accounting and finance professors are below:

Time frame for applications
Applications must be submitted online by 11:59 pm EST, on the date listed below.

In addition, all nominees and/or applicants are required to attend the final class and dinner of the Fall semester on December 6, starting at 5:30 pm in Wehner 115. During that time, the nominees and applicants are able to view the Titans class style and various former Titans are able to engage with them directly over dinner.

Fall applications are due each April and spring applications are due each November. Applicants are notified of admission decisions, by email, at the end of the semester.

Fall Deadline

April 21, 2018

Spring Deadline

November 15, 2018

More information

Class size: Limited to 15-17 students

Class format: Junto style (Ben Franklin model for a “club for mutual self-improvement”); class meets weekly, with the professor attending every other class, and the students directing themselves on the “off weeks.”

Executive professor: Britt Harris, current CIO of Texas Teachers Retirement System; former CEO for Bridgewater Associates; current member of the President’s Working Group for Financial Markets; Advisory Board Member for the NYSE.

Purpose: Provide a broad perspective on both financial markets and global developments, focusing on longer term context and current market conditions.

Characteristics of successful nominees/applicants: High capacity students who are likely to be unusually successful in business, people who are deemed particularly likely to do something good for others with whatever success they do achieve, people who are interesting.

Other activities: Seventeen summarized classic works in finance are reviewed; each Titan also reads and summarizes one additional book each semester; each student maintains an active investment portfolio (or portfolios) throughout the semester; economic reports are presented each week, all classes attended by the professor end with a dinner.